SWITZERLAND [NEWS SERVICE] ⋅ On Wednesday, the Council of States approved two motions that want to allow tourism to benefit from VAT.
(agl) Since the amendment to the Value Added Tax Ordinance in 2018, foreign tour operators are taxable from the first franc if they purchase services from hotels, restaurants or transport companies in Switzerland. This provided that they generate at least CHF 100,000 in sales worldwide. Until the end of 2017, services in Switzerland up to CHF 100,000 were exempt from VAT. The Council of States now wants to relieve the foreign tour operators and return to the previous arrangement.
On Wednesday he accepted a corresponding motion from Hans Stckli (SP / BE). He explained that smaller providers, in particular, who generate low sales in Switzerland, would increasingly withdraw from Switzerland. That means losses for the Swiss tourism industry. From the point of view of the responsible commission, the revision would have a positive effect on the tourist location. The economic benefits of the motion justify a certain unequal treatment between domestic and foreign providers.
Council of States wants to facilitate the bundling of products
In the meantime, the Federal Council has also reacted and announced a partial revision of the VAT Ordinance and thus the implementation of the motion. We meant well to equate foreign and domestic providers, but that created a problem, said Finance Minister Ueli Maurer. However, the motion is to remain in place until the Federal Council’s dispatch is available. The National Council must also decide on the initiative.
With a second motion, which the Council of States referred on Wednesday, he provides for further reductions in VAT, which should benefit tourism. Product combinations, so-called packages, which are taxed with a lower VAT rate, should be made easier. The main product, for example hotel accommodation, should in future only have to make up 55 percent of the package. Previously it was 70 percent. By bundling different services, the actors should receive an incentive to market their services together,
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